He had trained his entire life for a shot at Olympic glory, and,
after more than 20 years of wrestling, the Games represented the
pinnacle of competition for the former University of Missouri
standout. However, Askren fell short of his ultimate goal, as he
failed to medal in China. Afterwards, he was faced with a decision:
continue to pursue Olympic gold or try his hand at mixed martial
arts.

“That day, I went to have pizza with my wife in Beijing. It wasn’t
good pizza,” Askren says. “I said, ‘When we get back, I want to go
on vacation, and if there is a time to try mixed martial arts, now
is the time. If I get a year into it and I don’t like it, I still
have three years to prepare for the next Olympics.’”

Askren jumped headfirst into MMA but not without certain doubts.
The Olympic experience still wears on him, and, from time to time,
he pauses to consider the glory that slipped through his
fingers.

“The Olympic experience for me was terrible. I’m a very
goal-oriented person,” Askren says. “Maybe 20 years from now I’ll
look at it differently, but it’s been three years and I don’t like
to think about it. I was trying to win a gold medal -- at the very
least silver or bronze -- and I didn’t do any of those things.
Every once in a while, I have second thoughts. I know I didn’t give
myself the best chance possible to win an Olympic medal. I know I
could have been much more prepared with a different time
structure.

“Sometimes, not always, I think I gotta put my nose to the
grindstone and train [for the Olympics], but there is no money in
it,” he adds. “If I do decide to do that, I can’t finance it. The
only way I could do it is to make enough money fighting. I just
don’t know that that option is there for me.”

Considering his base skill, the decision to take up MMA seemed
natural. As a two-time NCAA champion, Askren was one of the more
dominant college wrestlers of his generation. However, when taking
into account his personality, the 27-year-old’s career choice
becomes quite interesting.

“I’m a peaceful person outside of competition. I had never really
punched anyone [prior to training]. Michael
Chandler, actually, my [Missouri] teammate, is the only person
I had punched,” he says. “We were at practice, and I told him not
to do something because it was a serious issue. My neck was injured
at the time. He did it, so I punched him. That was the only time I
had punched someone. I had never been in a fight.”

Jay
Hieron File Photo

Hieron is a formidable challenge.

His nickname, “Funky,” was born from his wrestling style. As a
collegiate wrestler, Askren was not known as an overwhelming
takedown artist. Rather, he dominated in scrambling situations,
usually coming out on top. Then, once he attained a desired
position, his control was impeccable. Those same attributes have
served Askren particularly well in his MMA transition.

“I go for takedowns a lot. My style and flow is based in scrambles.
A lot of people use basic wrestling, but they try one shot and, if
they don’t get it, they’ll give up,” he says. “For me, I’ll shoot
and if you stop me, you didn’t really stop me, you just stopped me
for a second. I’m gonna do something else and then I’ll get you
down.

“I haven’t been stopped a lot in takedowns, but I’m not going to
quit easily,” Askren adds. “If I can’t take you down once, maybe I
can take you down the second time. If I can’t take you down the
second time, maybe I can take you down the third time. Eventually,
you’re going to get sick of me and fall over.”

Commonly criticized as a “lay-and-pray” fighter, Askren dismisses
such notions and reminds his detractors that the goal of MMA is to
win. Even so, he acknowledges his own limitations in finishing
opponents. A brown belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Askren also
realizes wrestlers have certain advantages while training in the
discipline.

“If you calculate the time I’ve spent in closed guard to the time
I’ve spent outside someone’s guard, you’ll clearly see I’m not a
lay-and-pray fighter. By definition, it is someone who lays in
someone’s guard and prays for a decision,” he says. “In all
honesty, I am trying to work better at finishing fights. Wrestling
is not a finishing art. Boxing, kickboxing and muay Thai are
finishing arts. Wrestling doesn’t have that.

“I’m only two years into jiu-jitsu, but I’m not a brown belt
because I have great submissions,” Askren adds. “I can sweep anyone
in the world, and I have great top control. The longer mixed
martial arts goes on, the harder it is going to be to finish
[someone]. In 1997, no one knew what jiu-jitsu was. Now, if you
fight a guy who doesn’t know jiu-jitsu, he is only going to fight
in a major promotion for maybe two fights before he’s gone.”

Askren joined former world kickboxing champion Duke Roufus’ camp in
Milwaukee, looking to one of the most respected striking trainers
in MMA to improve other aspects of his game. Most of Askren’s
fights have taken place on the ground because of his prodigious
wrestling ability, but striking remains an integral part of the
sport. He does not want to be remembered as a one-dimensional
fighter.

“My hands are obviously coming along slower than the rest of my
game,” Askren says. “Jiu-jitsu was natural to me. It felt right. I
understand choking people. I understand position and leverage.
That’s one of the reasons I went to Milwaukee to be with Duke. He
is one of the premier striking coaches in mixed martial arts. I
think it’s going to help me out tremendously.”

“

What all these keyboard
warriors don’t see is I train
with lots of talented people
and see what the best in
the world look like. I’m not
there yet, but I’m not
that far off.

”

-- Ben Askren, Bellator
champion

Askren will defend his title against Jay Hieron at
Bellator 56 this Saturday at Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kan.
A former Div. I wrestler, Hieron represents a significant challenge
for Askren, though he believes it to be one he can handle. Hieron
has won 10 fights in a row.

“I think Jay’s style is fairly simple. He has a wrestling
background, and he has fairly good hands,” Askren says. “His
jiu-jitsu is not great from the top and probably even worse from
the bottom. His wrestling won’t be nearly the same level as mine,
so I will be able to take him down and I’ll be able to control him
and dominate him on the ground. I’m still working on my standup,
but I don’t imagine the fight will end up there. On top of that, he
showed in the Rick Hawn
fight [at Bellator 43 that] he lacks cardio. He got more tired as
the fight went on, and that was a three-round fight.”

In defending his belt and continuing on his current path, Askren
hopes to prove the doubters wrong. He wants to achieve the glory in
mixed martial arts that he failed to achieve at the 2008
Olympics.

“My goal for mixed martial arts is to be the best in the world. I
think it’s been two and a half years since my first fight, and it’s
still my goal,” he says. “What all these keyboard warriors don’t
see is I train with lots of talented people and see what the best
in the world look like. I’m not there yet, but I’m not that far
off.”